Mobile spotlight shines at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress

News from the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona tends to be about product announcements, and understandably so: Samsung, LG, HTC and many other hardware vendors use the February show to roll out new flagship smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

The 2016 show going on February 22 to 25 is no different. Gizmodo has a good roundup of “all the cool stuff” that has been announced in the first two days of the conference.

While IT pros certainly appreciate “cool stuff,” most are much more concerned with making sure their enterprise mobile initiatives are paying off in terms of increased productivity, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction and greater agility and flexibility. These topics — as well as the challenges facing enterprises in leveraging mobile technology — are well-represented in the MWC conference agenda, and if you aren’t in Spain for the event, you still can get roundups online about some of the discussion.

Tuesday’s “Enterprise Mobility CIO Roundtable,” for example, will delve into the key mobile-related considerations facing IT leaders, such as whether to develop internal enterprise mobility capabilities or engage third-party service providers, how to determine spending priorities and choosing the best governance structure.

A session on Wednesday, “Enabling the Smart Workforce,” will examine the demands of enterprise employees for mobile tools to do their jobs and what that means for IT infrastructure, security and device management.

On Thursday, “SmartFocus: Real-Time Matters! Using Data To Power Real-Time Marketing Moments,” will discuss how real-time data — including location data — can be used to enhance web and CRM programs and influence customer purchase decisions. Enterprises that want to deliver a personalized and relevant experience to customers must rely on IT to provide the necessary technology and support.

Other sessions will cover mobile payments, security, the Internet of Things, wearables, the on-demand economy and more.

If you’re not at 2016MWC, you can watch the keynote presentations at Mobile World Live. For news coming out of the conference, including daily video highlights and news roundups, click here.